All the pertinent information ends up on IMDB which you can find at any time, so there's no point reading it all when you watch a film.
One of the many, many ways in which Gus Van Sant's Psycho was inferior to Hitchcock's was the ending. The original has one of the eeriest closing shots of any film, a few seconds' glimpse of Marion's car being pulled from the swamp and "THE END" held over that. Van Sant turned it into a long, boring tracking shot with end credits, including a long list of songs that most people probably didn't even notice were in the movie (another common thing these days).
This thread had me watching the credits I just saw the longest credit ending ever The Seinfeld Bee movie An enjoyable film The credits include each family member Children credited for child humor etc
Working on a film or TV series is hard work, with very long hours. For those of us who do this work it’s important to receive screen credit that forever (?) attaches our names to the finished presentation. I’ve had several films where I did not receive credit that really ticked me off. I contributed to Hero, well seen imagery and yet someone at the Studio who hasn’t got a clue arbitrarily decided I shouldn’t get a credit. More recently a streaming series only used the first initial and last name of myself and my colleague while all other credits gave full names, WTF? In addition I was the lead and should have been credited as such, but we were given equal credit. Yes, IMDB is there and as an IMDBPro subscriber I can make sure that all my credits are listed correctly, and add it to projects for which I did not receive screen credit. This is a great thing, but does not take away the disrespect we feel when a Studio fails to provide screen credit.
Now they give anyone who even drives by the set a credit. We were watching the credits for the latest Jurassic World and it's unreal how many people get listed. An assistant to an assistant gets credit, as do any interns or trainees who had almost no effect on the final product. It's getting out of hand at this stage.
Think movie end credits are long these days? Modern video game end credits are usually much more interminable. I finished one earlier this year where the credit sequence was 40 minutes.
I don't know which is longer, the end credits or the trailers before the movie. Those things go on for half an hour!
Very often it is the list of songs that keeps me glued to the screen as the credits roll on and on. It usually comes near the end of all the credits. I've discovered some great music and artists through watching movies and television. With TV shows, however, I have to do a Google search because the credit sequences at the end are short and rarely include the songs used.
I remember when watching one of those Harry Potter films in the cinema, they didn't even play out the whole credit section. The curtain was closed and the lights went up right in the middle of it, then the music slowed down and the film roll was stopped. I'm actually one of those people who's sitting till the very end of a film, hoping for some 'hidden' scene/pic or something, and I think it's terrible that people stand up and go while the end part is still running.^^
I find myself waiting until the credits are over to view the little tid bits left behind...it's kind of annoying...I don't remember when this started but I wish it didn't. : )
Another first world problem. A middle of the road blockbuster nowadays (100 million-ish) has about 15,000 hours a work and about 1200 to 1500 people working on it. I guess you all never worked on projects at school or work? You work on something, you get credit. That’s how it works. Don’t want to read the credits? Go home.
I don't like tidbits/gag reels/hidden sequences because I think it cheapens (and unnecessarily lengthens) the credits. Just give due credit without dangling keys to get five extra people to stick around for some "prize" that distracts from the purpose of the crediting in the first place!
Howdy: The latest picture I boomed (all 14 months of it) still in theaters is Top Gun: Maverick. With very few below-the-line exceptions (e.g., the DP and some other heads of department), there are no contractual obligations on the producers’ part to credit anyone. All my deal memos going back to the ‘80s refer to potentially receiving credit as a “courtesy” and that arrangement remains the case today. A crew member can request (or possibly insist) that they be credited and have that agreement written into their particular deal memo—but that process remains the exception rather than the rule. I’m not sure when I first noticed how long end crawls were becoming but, boy, it’s sure seems like the whole thing has gotten a little out of control. (Not that some opening credits aren’t nearly just as bad.) At this point, I don’t really care if I get credited but I’d imagine it might make a big difference to someone new to the business or who has recently moved up from Grade Z projects to something with more prestige. It’s funny what gets each IATSE local’s attention. Currently, mine seems excited about getting the Production Sound Mixer listing back in the opening credits as it used to be up until sometime in the late ‘70s. (Makes one wonder who pissed off whom in the first place way back then.) It’s a little difficult to believe that’s something with which most of the sound membership are concerned… but what do I know? ~Huck
I think it's due to the unions. Every CGI peon needs to be included plus the caterer and the honeywagon driver. Next thing they will include the preview audience members.
Wrong. The VFX / CGI work are done by non-union companies that bid on the project. Part of their deal is that everyone get a credit. With so many films having extensive VFX work these days you get very lengthy credits. As Boom Operator stated, nearly all IATSE union members who get credit do so at the courtesy of the production, and most do the right thing by us. If it bothers you just leave, but you’re wrong to think all these hardworking people shouldn’t get a credit. As for songs used in films, that’s big business, and the licensing requires full credits to the artist, writer and publisher to be displayed.
In regard to makeup- While I'm not particularily interested in who did the makeup as far as standard film makeup goes, I do like to know who is behind creative makeups. By that I mean let's take the original 'Planet of the Apes' for example: I like to know who was behind the apes' makeup and things of that nature.
TV people take some credits very seriously. I remember having to replace credits on a CSI episode that was being syndicated(after a network run). We were instructed to make sure that so-and-so was no longer listed there and someone else was. The CSI producers were also very particular about the ringout of a lot of the trailing audio over black when a segment ended. So, when I created either a submaster or an encode, I always gave them every frame of those long "ga-dummmmmm" audio outcues. Someone messed up an edit of a different show and foolishly tried to use the credits from another episode to hide his mistake. Not surprisingly, someone from the client saw it and went ballistic. However, I used to do "squeeze and tease" edits on some shows where I would run 3 tape machines--one with a "next week" promo, one with the credits, and one to record. It would go through an editor and a switcher(Grass Valley usually) and would end up with the credits squeezed on one side and the promo on the other. I tried my best to keep the names legible, until someone told me that in fact there is NO requirement for those names to be perceptible! Hmph. I'd usually either cut or wipe back to full screen when the logos came up. Dan
I beg to differ. Behind every name that is listed there is a person waiting for that thrill of seeing their own name on screen in exchange for all of the hard hours they put in, making almost no money at all. Some of them even have families that want to see the name of their loved one on the screen.
I recently looked up what movie was first to do away with opening credits, and to my surprise it was 1940's Fantasia.
Which some Warner Bros. DVDs have done recently, like the third go of CHiPs (1979-80), the all-in-one (complete series) of the 60s ABC West/Ward Batman, and one Road Runner DVD (I had all of those at one time). Why do we need all those languages of warning screens anyway?
Not related to movies per se....but I've seen some music videos that have end credits (Dirty Loops) that go on 4ever! I feel like their giving me an albums worth of info for ONE song!
I have long assumed this is the direct result of a contract. They are required, per the contract, to run the full credits. They are not required to run them in a manner that concerns reading and understanding said credits easily. This plausibly means it is within the contract parameters to run the credits fast and small because if you were to stop frame the screen, and get close enough to read, you could read the credits. Otherwise they do seem utterly useless as they blip by about one screen of credits per second, and about 1/8 of the screen size.
