george kaplan

question about intermissions

On all of the dvds I have with intermissions complete with music, the intermission only lasts about a minute or two.

Now presumably the purpose of these theatrically was to give people time to go to the restroom or lobby for popcorn. That could hardly be done in the time that these dvd intermissions run.

So, there are 3 possibilities, and I'm curious as to which it is:

a) the intermissions really were that short

b) the intermissions were longer, and what we're getting on the dvds is cut down

c) the intermissions were longer, but most of the intermission was without music, which is as on the dvds, so what is 'missing' from the dvds is an extended quiet time with the lights on during intermission

Any information about this is greatly appreciated.

"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder

"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.

"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock

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Haggai

When I saw Lawrence of Arabia in a theater last fall, with intermission, it was option (c).

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Chris

Ghandi had an intermission of 15 minutes, though most of it was without music, if I remember (been a while).

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Bill McA

My DVD Collection Film Lists: 2001 (416), 2002 (412), 2003 (374), 2004 (346), 2005 (302), 2006 (221) Film Tracking 2005 (862), 2006 (852) Last 15 Watched: Pulse (2006,Jim Sonzero) 2/5, In the Realm of the Senses (1976,Nagisa Oshima) 4/5, Sing a Song of Sex (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 2/5, The Passionate Friends (1949,David Lean) 3/5, Band of Ninja (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 1/5, Saw V (2008,David Hackl) 3/5, Quantum of Solace (2008,Marc Forster) 2/5, Role Models (2008,David Wain) 3/5, Dorm (2006,Songyos Sugmakanan) 3/5, Candy (2006,Neil Armfield) 3/5, Shutter (2004,Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom) 1/5, Skinwalkers (2006,Jim Isaac) 2/5, Out of Season (1998,Jeanette L. Buck) 2/5, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983,Nagisa Oshima) 5/5, The Catch (1961,Nagisa Oshima) 3/5

Robert Crawford

George,
It's C!

G.W. McLintock: Camille, you're on your own.

george kaplan

That's what I figured, but never having seen any of these films theatrically, I wasn't sure.

Thanks for the info!

"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder

"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.

"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock

"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk

Leo Kerr

I would imagine that one of the things it allowed for was the projectionist to get a breather, and a chance to reorganize the projection booth.

Remember at this time, the vast majority of films were shown alternating between two projectors. If you had a Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm, you're probably looking at 14 2000' reels of film. If that's the case (as opposed to 28 1000' reels,) you've got 16 minutes to pull the spent reel #1 off of projector 1, clean the film path, replace the carbons, and thread reel #3, before reel #2 tails out on projector #2.

An intermission might be required to save the projectionists lift! I'd estimate a 2000' reel of 70mm film to weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 pounds.

Now it's not beyond the realm of possibility that 70mm would run off of 1000' reels... which would mean a reel-change every 8 minutes. On the other hand, you should be able to get two reels out of a set of carbons...

(note: I had to make some gross estimates there about how long a 70mm reel would last - I believe it's about 12 frames per foot; I know 35mm runs 16 frames per foot.)

Leo Kerr

Joey Skinner

I suppose the only reason that the intermission is on the dvd at all is to let you know that there was one in the original movie.

Glenn Overholt

The intermission has nothing to do with the projectionist. It is just a pee break. If it was for the guy up in the back room, then plays on Broadway wouldn't have them.

I don't think that I have any DVD's with short intermissions on them. Anyone got a list?

Glenn

george kaplan

Are you saying you don't have any dvds with intermissions, or that the ones you have are long intermissions?

some of the dvds I have with intermissions:

Ice Station Zebra
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
The Ten Commandments
Ben-Hur
My Fair Lady
The Sound of Music
South Pacific
Spartacus
2001
Hello, Dolly!
The Great Race

and many others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder

"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.

"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock

"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk

Paul Linfesty

Technically speaking, the music you are hearing are NOT the intermssions. They are Entractes