posted
A movie's end credits offer all sorts of wonderful opportunities: to sit quietly and think about what you've just seen, to read the names of those men and women responsible for it, to catch the name of that very cool song that was playing in the background about halfway through the film.
Apparently the geniuses who program our TV stations disagree, however. To them, a movie's credits are something to be raced through as quickly as possible, something to be shoved to the side so we can see a teaser for what is coming on next, a chance to maybe earn a few more bucks in advertising dollars.
posted
Or show ads. The more ads they can show the more money for their pockets. They want to keep you tuned in, not go, "Great movie, lets go outside!"
-------------------- W.W.F.S.M.D? But this image of Bush as some sort of Snidely Whiplash tying the fair maiden to the railroad tracks is beyond the pale. - Joe Bentley Posts: 2311 | From: Minnnesota | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
What I can't understand is why the people who own/made the movies let them get away with it. They should sell the rights to show a movie only under the agreement the credits will be run intact. It's not as though there isn't a strong actor's guild. They should throw their weight around so they can get their credit where credit is due.
My SO used to work in the industry (3D animator), and it bothered me that I could never see his name in the credits when they'd show one of the movies on TV.
However, I view this as a relatively minor problem compared to the growing trend of TV channels throwing an exceptionally large and or moving graphic (worst are the ones that make noise as well) onto the screen during a show. I guess it still hasn't occurred to them the reason why people so enjoy avoiding advertisements with TiVo is because they don't like ads. Placing the ads in a non-avoidable spot in the middle of your product (the show itself) isn't exactly endearing yourself to your viewers.
Posts: 550 | From: Springboro, OH | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I am a credit-reader, so this trend really makes me cranky.
The fastest hot-switch/speeding end credits job I have seen was on Bravo a few days ago, when they were showing "Waterworld." It is a long, long movie that they were trying to cram into three hours and the alloted about 7.4 seconds for the end credits of one of the most technologically-intense films made. It was disappointing.
Part of the problem is this mad, mindless, practically slavish adherence to the time slot: a show can be 1/2, 1, or 2 hours, and nothing else. Although, the ocassional 90-minute finales of "The Apprentice" sneak into the lineup somehow.
I do hope that those affected unions will begin to lobby harder for actual readable credits.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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First of all, I rarely care to see the credits and it often seems to me the most pointless thing to show. When you go and see a work of art in a museum the painter's name tends to be somewhere relatively out of sight and then hanging on a little placard on the side that one usually has to get close to read...
On the other hand, sometimes I DO want to know who was playing a particular character or who did the music and such... and in these cases credits being ommitted, badly organized or rushed through annoys me.
Looking at both though I would say I am quite willing to deal with the inconveince of a 3-minute show of white words on a black background than not having them when I do want to see them.
Posts: 411 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
If I want to find out anything that is/was in the credits or anything more about a movie- I look at IMDB when I get home.
If I am watching anything on TV I look at the credits like I do commercials- time to get a drink or put in a load of laundry.
-------------------- "My Very Educated Mother Just Said Uh-oh! No...Pluto..."~ Steven Colbert Posts: 3256 | From: Somewhere in Ohio | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by mags: Placing the ads in a non-avoidable spot in the middle of your product (the show itself) isn't exactly endearing yourself to your viewers.
But it does endear you to your advertisers, and they're the ones actually paying for the program in the first place...
--Logoboros
-------------------- "If Men were Wise, the Most arbitrary Princes could not hurt them. If they are not wise, the Freest Government is compelld to be a Tyranny."
posted
Film makers could always go back to the old practice of putting the entire credits in the opening title sequences.
...But then, that was before the days of computer animation and CGI, when the entire film credits might be comprised of 3 dozen people.
-------------------- "There is no constitutional right to sleep with endangered reptiles." -- Carl Hiaasen Won't somebody please think of the adults! Posts: 8254 | From: Florida | Registered: Oct 2002
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posted
Tangential note: has anyone else noticed the increasing placement of what appear to be fully-designed opening title sequences at the end of a movie? Off-hand, I could name Lemony Snicket and Van Helsing as having this, but there are tons of examples.
I suppose they paid a firm to create an opening title sequence, then decided to start the movie cold, instead, but didn't want their expensive sequence to go to waste, so they just tack it on just before the full-fledged closing credits.
A lot of the time the sequences are visually pretty cool and I enjoy them, so I guess I don't have much to complain about, but it just makes the movie feel a little sloppy to me.
--Logoboros
-------------------- "If Men were Wise, the Most arbitrary Princes could not hurt them. If they are not wise, the Freest Government is compelld to be a Tyranny."
quote:Originally posted by mags: Placing the ads in a non-avoidable spot in the middle of your product (the show itself) isn't exactly endearing yourself to your viewers.
But it does endear you to your advertisers, and they're the ones actually paying for the program in the first place...
--Logoboros
Actually, the ad placements I referred to are never for products, they're for other programs on that channel. Regardless, there is a breaking point where you can irritate your viewers to the point where they stop watching, and that won't endear you to the people paying for ads.
Imagine it as though you are consuming a physical product, say a can of Coca-Cola. You take a swallow, and suddenly realize there is something more than liquid in your mouth. There is a little capsule. You spit it out and look at it and it reads "Try Sprite!" It is interrupting the enjoyment of one of your products, to advertise for another one. There are places for advertising, for the people who pay for it, and for your own company. On the packaging is where most physical products place the ads, and we are used to and accepting of that. Likewise, most people are used to and accepting of commercials (even I don't watch with my TiVo all the time). Within a product itself is not the proper placement.
Posts: 550 | From: Springboro, OH | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Logoboros: Tangential note: has anyone else noticed the increasing placement of what appear to be fully-designed opening title sequences at the end of a movie? Off-hand, I could name Lemony Snicket and Van Helsing as having this, but there are tons of examples.
I suppose they paid a firm to create an opening title sequence, then decided to start the movie cold, instead, but didn't want their expensive sequence to go to waste, so they just tack it on just before the full-fledged closing credits.
A lot of the time the sequences are visually pretty cool and I enjoy them, so I guess I don't have much to complain about, but it just makes the movie feel a little sloppy to me.
--Logoboros
That actually extends to TV shows as well. One of the shows I used to watch, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, had an elaborate trench run, complete with ships and communication transmissions. It was designed to maximize the program's interactivity (you fired a gun at tesignated targets), but still, it provides something to watch. Nowadays, that would be gone.
-------------------- "Never underestimate a nerd from outer space." --Von, that alien from that Kids Incorporated episode. Posts: 1189 | From: Australia | Registered: May 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Logoboros: Tangential note: has anyone else noticed the increasing placement of what appear to be fully-designed opening title sequences at the end of a movie? Off-hand, I could name Lemony Snicket and Van Helsing as having this, but there are tons of examples.
I suppose they paid a firm to create an opening title sequence, then decided to start the movie cold, instead, but didn't want their expensive sequence to go to waste, so they just tack it on just before the full-fledged closing credits.
A lot of the time the sequences are visually pretty cool and I enjoy them, so I guess I don't have much to complain about, but it just makes the movie feel a little sloppy to me.
--Logoboros
Titles can be pretty expensive to produce, so I don't think they are "tacked on" to anything. Such sequences are done by design, as opposed to an afterthought.
[ETA: Napolean Dynamite did not have any money for opening titles when it screened at Sundance. There, it was picked up by MTV Films for distribution, who also contributed the money to get the opening title sequence made.]
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
I would certainly like to read some of the credits before they fly by. I spend a lot of time on IMDB after watching a movie. Answers the old "who was that?".
-------------------- Virtue is its own reward. But, then again, so is vice.... Posts: 167 | From: Lincoln, NE | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
What really gets to me about the minimized TV credits is that they show ads for things that they already shown throughout the commercial breaks in the show.
I know repetition is supposed to be a good thing but still...
-------------------- Okay, just to make it clear, there is a real world out there. No really, there is. I checked. Posts: 886 | From: Suffolk, VA | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
The reason it bothers me is that, aside from wanting to see all the names, often the end music, etc was carefully planned to be part of the experience. Rarely do moviemakers just tack on a random song.
quote:Originally posted by ChelleGame: The reason it bothers me is that, aside from wanting to see all the names, often the end music, etc was carefully planned to be part of the experience. Rarely do moviemakers just tack on a random song.
No kidding. The Mummy has been played numerous times lately with trundicated credits. The station places the credits on the top third of the screen next to an ad for the next upcoming program and above another advertising strip telling us what is coming up next (if we can't figure it out with the blaring ad above it). The movie's credits run at light-speed, are unreadable, and the credit's music is muted.
Which is a shame because the end credit's music to The Mummy is a beautiful piece of work that moves well with the graphics. It is slightly haunting and always draws me in, perfecting the movie for me. To me, it is the best part of that movie and I silently curse the stations that always cut it out.
-------------------- I swear, it was funnier in my head. Yeah, I used to be pink. vanilla_pink. Posts: 2493 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Speeding Note: What really gets to me about the minimized TV credits is that they show ads for things that they already shown throughout the commercial breaks in the show.
I know repetition is supposed to be a good thing but still...
Bravo and USA are horrible at this. First they run a commercial for an upcoming program in each commercial break during the show you are watching. Then they plaster a teaser flag on the bottom of the screen over the show you are watching. And finally, when your show ends, there is an ad for that show AGAIN squishing the credits for the show you just watched pratically off the screen.
The worst is when the trailer flags come with their own soundtracks. Want to hear the whispered confession of the bad guy? Too bad! WCW is on at 8! Cue large explosion noises! Cue Loud announcer guy to tell you WCW is on at 8! Don't miss it! Cue explosion noises again as trailer flag dissappears!
I've been tivoing old episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent from Bravo lately, and let me just say that thanks to the aggressive advertising, I will be missing Queer Eye for the Straight Guy even though I used to watch it. Monk also fell off my tivo line-up because of this. I just couldn't watch an hour of Monk after watching (what felt like) 35 hours of ads in one week - it was just too much Monk!
-------------------- I swear, it was funnier in my head. Yeah, I used to be pink. vanilla_pink. Posts: 2493 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
USA is definitely the worst -- although that new show, Psych/Psyched, looks good. I know because I see the commercials constantly. (You think I'd know the exact name.)
Ick on Monk -- constant specific commercials, and then the "characters welcome" commercials!
quote:Originally posted by ChelleGame: The reason it bothers me is that, aside from wanting to see all the names, often the end music, etc was carefully planned to be part of the experience. Rarely do moviemakers just tack on a random song.
Excellent point. And for those of us who are not into name-spotting, it's the worst consequence of ruining the credits. End Credits music is either the fullest statement of the film's score where the composer can cut loose without worrying about cue points, or it's a song specially selected as the last mood-setter as the audience departs the theater. It's a shame to lose it.
Posts: 389 | From: Anchorage, AK | Registered: Aug 2005
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TV has been doing it for at least a decade. They've also long ago stopped showing end credits for TV shows (except as a tiny crawl at the bottom of the screen).
TV shows are in color now, too, if you haven't noticed.
If you really need to read them, there's always the IMDB. Movie end credits run much too long nowadays, anyway, as everyone and his second cousin has to get credited.
Gonzo: "Does anyone read these?" Kermit: "Sure. They all have families."
Posts: 675 | From: Schenectady, NY | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Actually, many (not all) film cast and crew are entitled to having their efforts acknowledged, and that is the point of credits.
You can always turn your television off if you don't wish to watch the credits.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
I don't know how recent this "trend" is but I would defnitely say recent, certainly not a decade. At least not the squeezing all the credits to the bottom or side and running commericals over the closing music "trend" anyhow.
-------------------- If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr Posts: 18428 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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I became a credit reader because of a friend who goes to the NC School of the Arts. When they screen films there, you have to stay until the end of the credits or it is seen as extremely rude and can get you in trouble with professors. When I see a movie in other venues with him, we usually stay until the end out of his habit. It's not as bad or as long as most people think.
-------------------- "But about the reindeer...what kind of a nose shines? How did he get it? Maybe it's not a reindeer after all. It could be something else." Posts: 2216 | From: Winston-Salem, NC | Registered: Nov 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Sandman: At least we can get all the details of the credits from the IMDB.
That is exactly what I do. I do not bother watching the credits even if it is a DVD. I just go to my old trusty friend,the IMDb,and read everything I possibly can about the film I just watched.
-------------------- The views expressed in the above Post does not necessarily reflect those of snopes,The Infopoop Corporation,the Internet or most of society for that matter. Posts: 2474 | From: Scranton, PA | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Radical Dory: I became a credit reader because of a friend who goes to the NC School of the Arts. When they screen films there, you have to stay until the end of the credits or it is seen as extremely rude and can get you in trouble with professors. When I see a movie in other venues with him, we usually stay until the end out of his habit. It's not as bad or as long as most people think.
And sometimes, in movie theaters, you get rewarded with a end scene that all the people who ran out when the credits began miss!
Personally, I shouldn't have to log onto the internet everytime a movie plays just so I can see something that I should have seen when the movie ended. Besides, what about the people who don't have internet access and can't read IMDB after a movie/tv show ends? Tough noogies? The people who worked on the movie deserve to have the credit for their work accessable to everyone - by removing the ability to actually read the credits, the work done by these people becomes insignificant. Which seems almost heartless to me considering how much many of these people's lives have been placed into the production of a movie.
-------------------- I swear, it was funnier in my head. Yeah, I used to be pink. vanilla_pink. Posts: 2493 | From: California | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
I'm another who'll check up on IMDB if there is something I want to find out, so it has never bothered me about this sort of practice. But then it never did before I found my way online.
I always find it strange how many people actually get credited for films and some TV programmes, and as RealityChuck has already said about 'everyone and their second cousin being credited'. I do realise that all those mentioned have done something, but film is pretty much the only one where vast numbers get credited.
If you like the work, then there are only a few names on the list really worth knowing to potential find out similar pieces which might appeal.
Whilst other artistic media may rely on one or two people only, so it's much easier to list a name or two. There are others where credit isn't given.
Posts: 121 | From: Berkshire, UK | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
Vast numbers get credited because it often takes vast numbers of people to make a movie.
-------------------- "When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty."--George Bernard Shaw Posts: 19266 | From: Nashville, TN | Registered: Jun 2002
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quote:Originally posted by L: I always find it strange how many people actually get credited for films and some TV programmes, and as RealityChuck has already said about 'everyone and their second cousin being credited'. I do realise that all those mentioned have done something, but film is pretty much the only one where vast numbers get credited.
I work in business, and when a large group of people are involved in a project, there names are all "credited," in a sense, because they appear on distribution lists, rosters, etc.
I don't see why people who work on movies shouldn't get the same recognition, which is what credits are. Especially since the nature of the movie business is that these people are always looking for the next job (and most of them aren't getting paid massive sums of momey like the big stars).
Most decisions about who gets credit are probably part of union or individual contracts.
Edited to clarify that movie crew members are, in fact, paid.
-------------------- How homophobic do you have to be to have penguin gaydar? - Lewis Black Posts: 8322 | From: Columbus, OH | Registered: Aug 2005
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I used to skip credits, but with the Zucker brothers' films (back when they were, y'know, *good*) you missed some really weird jokes that way.
Posts: 2787 | From: California | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Speaking of "Monk," the most recent indignity was in the most recent episodse, where they shrank the credits down to a barely legible size and ran them over the last scene in the episode. Worst credits ever.
-------------------- "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble Puppy." -Mustapha Mond, "Brave New World" Posts: 679 | From: New York | Registered: Oct 2001
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I always watch the credits. It embarrasses the heck out of my kids at movie theatres. But I figure, hey, I paid to see the movie and I intend to get my money's worth. And you never know when they are going to include interesting bits of business in the credits ("Narnia", "Over the Hedge" etc.) On the big screen they are easy to read, but often when you watch a movie on DVD or video the credits on your TV screen are too small or blurry to read.
-------------------- "Jesus must be spinning in his grave." - Barney Gumble Posts: 26 | From: Burns Lake, BC, Canada | Registered: Jun 2006
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