The importance of screeners

[spoRv]

Warning: I do not endorse nor reccomend the habit to watch screeners only, and then NOT going in theaters AND/OR buying the commercial release!

Said that, a screener (cinema rip, cam rip, telesync... the capture of a movie as shown in the theater) have a certain importance, in particular for us, project maker.

Why? How many times you hear (or you say to yourself) "...but I am certain that scene was (was not) showed" or "the dialog was not the same" and so on... with a screener, you can have a PROOF that this fact is true, or just a memory trick (due to other things like written scripts, trailers, deleted scenes, documentaries, comics, radio dramas etc.)

Now let's see the main things that could make a screener useful (some deeply depending by the screener audio video quality itself):

• cut: to know if the movie shown has the same cut released later on media, or if there are additional/cut/different scenes/shots
  
• color grading: to see the original colors
  
• aspect ratio: to know the original one
  
• audio: to hear if the mix is the original one, or if there are added/cut/different music and/or dialogs
  

Of couse, different screeners are better than just one, to eventually average audio/video quality, or to compare different versions, released, for example, in different countries.

I can write just one example: "Attack of the Clones" and the famous mechanical hand during the wedding scene, different from any successive versions; but there are many others available, and many others will come; so, DO NOT delete your old screener - because you also have the original VHS/LD/DVD/BD etc. RIGHT? - because it could be used as a proof for a project, or just to know if a given fact is true or not!

Last thing: this applies of course also to bootlegs and somehow to workprints.

[FrankT]

You know, I saw a screener copy of Moulin Rouge in a charity shop a few weeks ago. I'll have to go back and see if it's still there!

[SilverWook]

Keep in mind that copies of movies made for Oscar voters and the like are also called screeners. I used to see Emmy screeners of tv shows in a local thrift shop all the time.

[spoRv]

Keep in mind that copies of movies made for Oscar voters and the like are also called screeners. I used to see Emmy screeners of tv shows in a local thrift shop all the time.

Thanks for the info! Do you think they have the same cut/colors/AR/sound mix etc. of the theatrical presentation? If so, I think they could be much more useful, isn't true?

[MrBrown]

Screener.. like that? http://www.ebay.de/itm/Sam-Raimi-SPIDER-...Sw-kdXxCi6

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Ooh, that's be interesting to see Spider Man 2 color timing!

But, on this topic, were there any AOTC screeners ever made to preserve that hand shot?

Also, theoretically, since there are apparently Rogue One screeners floating around there, are they of value for us, just in case the film is changed or re-color-timed? Not suggesting outright piracy, but, since this thread is about the importance of screeners, I'm wondering what others around here think about the legitimacy of having what is essentially an illegal copy of a major Hollywood blockbuster. Is there some sort of date we agree on as a community that it becomes acceptable to try to obtain such things?

[MrBrown]

I would say screeners are quite interesting, and I would not mind having some of them on my shelf. I still would get the retail Version, but for collection purpose. Especially, if the screener shows some difference (color timing, Audio mix/dub, comnplete scenes) to the retail home media release.

[SilverWook]

Keep in mind that copies of movies made for Oscar voters and the like are also called screeners. I used to see Emmy screeners of tv shows in a local thrift shop all the time.

Thanks for the info! Do you think they have the same cut/colors/AR/sound mix etc. of the theatrical presentation? If so, I think they could be much more useful, isn't true?

These days, the window between theatrical and home video is so short it's hard to say. Screeners for movies released in December for Oscar consideration might be more likely to reflect the theatrical. IIRC, the academy also stuck with VHS a bit longer than everyone else, (into the early 2000's at least) for fears of a DVD providing a perfect bootleg source before a film could come out officially on home video.

[spoRv]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOSH-scDS-2/

[Stamper]

Not 100% sure but I have a copy of the academy screener of Skyfall. The 5.1 soundmix on that one sounds like it's the theatrical mix, whereas the Blu-ray or DVD sounds like a near field adjusted remix.