Anyone Know What a VHS "Screening Copy" Is?
tv4000
by a VHS "screening copy?"...... I'm interested in buying a used video
(from EBAY) of an out of print PBS American Playhouse TV broadcast. The
tape is described as a screening copy. What should I expect this tape to
have? Will it be the full length film? Will it have the words
"screening copy" burned into the image as it plays?
Phil R.
>Are there any video collectors out there who can tell me what is meant
>by a VHS "screening copy?"...... I'm interested in buying a used video
>(from EBAY) of an out of print PBS American Playhouse TV broadcast. The
>tape is described as a screening copy. What should I expect this tape to have?
You can't ask the seller?
--Phil
"I saw bigger stars after I accidentally sat on my nuts." -- Triumph, the
insult comic dog saying to American Idol star Kelly.
jere7my tho?rpe
wrote:
A screener is an early release VHS tape distributed to video stores
so they can decide whether or not they want to stock the movie, and to
reviewers and so forth. I have a number of them; they all contain the
complete film, but they have various anti-release measures to keep video
stores from putting them on the shelves before the street date: some
switch into black and white for thirty seconds or so every ten minutes,
some have an occasional "PREVIEW COPY ONLY -- NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION"
scroll along the top or bottom, some invert the colors now and again,
etc. These measures generally affect less than 10% of the film's
duration, but they are pretty intrusive.
----j7y
--
*************************************************************************
jere7my tho?rpe / 734-769-0913 "Homo sum: humani nihil a me
http://homepage.mac.com/jere7my alienum puto." ---Terentius
William J. Pitcher
> Are there any video collectors out there who can tell me what is meant
> by a VHS "screening copy?"......
Screeners are copies of the movie sent to industry types such as reviewers.
They are usually identical to the finished copy except for the screener
notices. These notices can at the bottom on the screen for the entire
movie, but usually they appear for a number of seconds throughout the movie.
The notices often says things like Property of such and such Studio -- Not
for Resale.
Technically, these are illegal to sell. However, the studios don't keep
very tight tabs on them. I have a friend that works for a distribution
company and he always has screening copies of films.
Cheers, Bill.
tv4000
> You can't ask the seller?
>
> --Phil
I sent a question to them but they didn't reply. Ebay noted not to
expect sellers to answer questions when they have so many items up for
sale.
Robair
news:4j7m9.107529$q41....@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
> tv4000 wrote:
> > Are there any video collectors out there who can tell me what is meant
> > by a VHS "screening copy?"......
>
> Screeners are copies of the movie sent to industry types such as
reviewers.
> They are usually identical to the finished copy except for the screener
> notices. These notices can at the bottom on the screen for the entire
> movie, but usually they appear for a number of seconds throughout the
movie.
> The notices often says things like Property of such and such Studio -- Not
> for Resale.
Also, I don't know if they still make them this way, but aren't there
VHS screeners that can only be played three or four times, then they
automatically erase?
--Robair
mat...@vax.hanford.org
>>Are there any video collectors out there who can tell me what is meant
>>by a VHS "screening copy?"...... I'm interested in buying a used video
>>(from EBAY) of an out of print PBS American Playhouse TV broadcast. The
>>tape is described as a screening copy. What should I expect this tape to have?
It was presumably used for the Emmy Awards or other awards shows.
It will likely have "Property of Whoever" emblazoned over the picture,
at the very least.
--
mat...@vax.hanford.org
Rob
Especially when the seller is peddling something that is illegal to
sell. Check the eBay pages before you place your bid!
logank...@gmail.com
moviePig
etc.) for convenient viewing. Nowadays, they're DVDs (or streaming?).
I'd guess it might be some years yet (if ever) before any have
historical value. (Meanwhile, there's the easy counterfeiting.)
A Friend
screeners marked for the Oscars, which was kinda cool.) Early on they
sent VHS because that was the technology then. They switched to DVD
but then went back to VHS because the disks were much more easily
copied. They also thought the lower quality of the VHS would
discourage piracy. (No, it didn't.) I understand they later started
releasing DVDs again, but with markers so they could tell whose DVD had
been copied.
This stuff is not as exciting as you might think. The only screener I
can remember watching was for "Catch Me If You Can." I didn't bother
with the others; they're all sitting unopened in a drawer in the
upstairs TV cabinet. (I played fair. I never copied them or sent them
to other people. It's apparently the case that you're not allowed to
let family members watch the screeners with you, but my wife and I
watched "Catch" together. So put me in jail already.)
anim8rfsk
that I should watch it with my parents. They were bored stiff.
I was also sent a screener of STAR TREK GENERATIONS because somebody thought
it was so awful I should see it (the original cut with the original ending).
It was so awful it spared me ever going to a Trek movie in the theater again.
Both of those I had to return. I knew people that used them to build a low
end, albeit current, film library.
Screeners were often given as prizes and such after the movies had been
released.
--
Join your old RAT friends at
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A Friend
<super70s-B251C7...@reader01.eternal-september.org>,
super70s <supe...@super70s.invalid> wrote:
> In article <040220202323159994%no...@noway.com>,
>
> > In article <bNq_F.327539$K87.1...@fx46.iad>, moviePig
> > <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
> >
> > > On 2/4/2020 10:03 PM, logank...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > > Are they usually worth anything?
> > >
> > > Screening copies are shipped to professionals (press, Oscar voters,
> > > etc.) for convenient viewing. Nowadays, they're DVDs (or streaming?).
> > > I'd guess it might be some years yet (if ever) before any have
> > > historical value. (Meanwhile, there's the easy counterfeiting.)
> >
> >
> > I used to get them because I was in the WGA. (We'd get copies of
> > screeners marked for the Oscars, which was kinda cool.) Early on they
> > sent VHS because that was the technology then. They switched to DVD
> > but then went back to VHS because the disks were much more easily
> > copied. They also thought the lower quality of the VHS would
> > discourage piracy. (No, it didn't.) I understand they later started
> > releasing DVDs again, but with markers so they could tell whose DVD had
> > been copied.
>
> shop buys), a little while into it it put up a disclaimer something like
> "SCREENER COPY - NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION" on the screen. Either I didn't
> like the movie and got rid of it, or I thought the warning ruined a
> decent movie and got rid of it.
The one I saw had disclaimers at the top and somewhere in the middle.
They didn't last very long, maybe 15 seconds. Yes, they were annoying
anyway.
moviePig
(as you said, catch me if you can) were tremendously exciting, not only
because they were usually good flicks but because they were invariably
letterboxed!!! ...a rare treat in VHS's early Philistine days.