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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2016 20:19:10 GMT
I went to see Zootropolis (Zootopia) yesterday and stayed for the end credits. Just over twelve minutes of them.
Twelve minutes of credits? Isn't this getting a bit ridiculous? There are short films that tell a complete story in less time than that. In the days when films were distributed on 1000-foot reels that would be more than one reel just to list names, half of which have only the most tenuous connection with the film. It's not even as if it's for free: it increases the distribution cost, adds around 10% to the wear and tear on the projector, and reduces the capacity of the cinema by lengthening the film. And for what? So people who have recently spawned can get their kids' names on screen? I don't like walking out of a film before the credits are over—I feel that if people have gone to the effort of composing, playing, recording and mixing the end credit music then I owe it to them to stay and listen to their work—but the films seem to be doing their damnedest to make it a challenge.
I wonder how the people responsible for all this would feel if they went to a shop and were presented with a list of everyone involved in the manufacture and delivery of each item they purchased, and then had the cost of producing that list built into the price they were charged.
Also, about a dozen names of people responsible for arranging the music and not one name of anyone who actually played it? They have interesting priorities.
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Post by mallardo on Apr 13, 2016 20:29:12 GMT
Yes, production accountants and caterers et al are now listed along with creatives for every movie and many TV shows and it's quite in keeping with an era in which everyone can be a critic or a commentator online or be followed around via Twitter or record themselves doing just about anything for all the world to see. The Expanded Credits Syndrome is historically pretty much in sync with the development of the internet - they're symptoms of the same thing. We all want recognition and now we can get it!
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Post by duncan on Apr 14, 2016 12:51:00 GMT
I've never trusted credits since I was little and was told that "Sesame Street today was brought to you by the letters P and O, and the number 1," when it was quite clear that a big yellow bird and a blue monster in a dustbin were doing all the actual work. Off at a tangent - that was a joke at the expense of all of the adult shows on US tv in the 50s and 60s that were "brought to you by Enzio hand cleaner and Schweppes tonic, the best tonic you'll have all week" |
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Post by Jon on Apr 14, 2016 17:18:10 GMT
The rise of CGI especially in blockbusters and animated films means credits are getting longer. Batman v Superman had a number of companies doing the CGI for example in the past it was just one or two.
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Post by dippy on Apr 15, 2016 20:43:48 GMT
I do watch the whole of the credits for every film I watch (hardly any) however I'm biased because sometimes my name can be in them (the crew side of things). I enjoy looking for people I know if the film was shot over here. However I can fully understand most people having no interest. I even get bored with the pages and pages of vfx crew. However if that was my department I'm sure I'd feel very differently. I went to a screening for a vfx heavy film I worked on in the Odeon in Leicester Square. The cinema was almost full and I recognised hardly anyone! There were cheers from the vfx lot when their names appeared. To be honest they probably worked on the film a lot longer than I did, so maybe they should all be there.
I did once get my name in the credits of a film that I worked on for one day. Don't ask me why my name was there, I am sure I didn't deserve it. So maybe sometimes not everyone should be there, me included! On the other side of things I've worked on a film for five months before and not had a credit.
Credits are an interesting thing and imdb is even more interesting since anyone can add things. I wished there was a West End Theatre Database, now that I'd really enjoy (but that's off topic).
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Post by stuart on Apr 15, 2016 22:09:38 GMT
It appears that Rihanna is having cinema style credits roll on big screens at the end of her current world tour. Never seen that done before. Maybe something we'll see in theatre in the near future?
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Post by mallardo on Apr 15, 2016 22:57:35 GMT
Dippy, you can't just add credits to IMDB - you need evidence they can check. I speak from experience. I had to go through quite an ordeal before I was able to get the credits that were due to me on one particular series.
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Post by DuchessConstance on Apr 16, 2016 0:07:01 GMT
IMDB depends on a ton of factors, including some known only to the stars. I've added stuff where they've refused to approve it even though I linked to screen caps of the end credits, while other stuff I added by mistake got approved even though it wasn't accurate.
As a general rule if you're new they check your subs very carefully. Once you've built up enough of a rep they approve anything you submit automatically.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2016 5:40:02 GMT
I do watch the whole of the credits for every film I watch (hardly any) however I'm biased because sometimes my name can be in them (the crew side of things). I enjoy looking for people I know if the film was shot over here. However I can fully understand most people having no interest. I even get bored with the pages and pages of vfx crew. However if that was my department I'm sure I'd feel very differently. I went to a screening for a vfx heavy film I worked on in the Odeon in Leicester Square. The cinema was almost full and I recognised hardly anyone! There were cheers from the vfx lot when their names appeared. To be honest they probably worked on the film a lot longer than I did, so maybe they should all be there. But outside the entertainment industry people don't get credits at all and they don't expect to, and that used to be true of films as well. I've seen old films where the end of the film is just "The End"—or "Fin" if they're feeling pretentious—and that's it. My mother's side of the family used to own a film studio and the credits in their films were just main cast, main executives, studio logo. That's how it ought to be. (I wish the family studio was still going because I'd love to work in films, but at my age there's no hope unless I write a top-selling novel that would also make a great film.) There's no function behind the credits. Nobody ever sat and took notes during the credits with a view to offering work to someone in the list. It's purely a matter of vanity. Some of the people included are people whose jobs are nothing to do with the production itself and their only connection is that they're employed by a company that happened to be involved at some point. And then there's the "production babies" section that seems to be a feature of so many films now. For me the personal problem is that I feel guilty if I walk out before the end, but a fifth of an hour isn't something that can be overlooked and can be boring if the music isn't the best. It also affects the profitability of the industry: most cinemas will switch off the projector lamp if nobody's in an auditorium because they make a noticeable saving in reduced wear and tear by doing so, so imagine the accumulated cost of running projectors for an extra 10 hours every day in a medium-sized multiscreen just to screen credits. They could show four or five extra films for the cost of showing the credits. I've done a small amount of theatre work and I have to admit it was nice to see my name in the programme, but at the same time it didn't bother me when everyone apart from the cast and director was elbowed out to make way for advertising. The production comes first. |
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