Old technology in new films

[Bullseye]

Why do studios employ old technology in new films. VHS, old CRTs. Surely it's a good opportunity to advertise Blu Ray and flat screen tv's.

[kpkelley]

Have you not seen Tropic Thunder?

Blu-ray in Tropic Thunder

[Batman1980]

Will say it was amusing to see all the pomp about a VHS of Spaceballs that they pulled out during the movie.

[Rblu-Dblu]

My question is why do they advertise bluray on a bluray disc? The last 5 movies I've watched on bluray had the advertisement showing how much better bluray is than standard dvd. Being that I need a bluray player to watch the disc I'm watching, I dont think this advertisement is necessary.

[J6P]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

Why do studios employ old technology in new films. VHS, old CRTs. Surely it's a good opportunity to advertise Blu Ray and flat screen tv's.

I'd hope they're doing it because that's the proper tech to support the film's narrative and the characters involved.

What's an example that you've noticed?

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

Why do studios employ old technology in new films. VHS, old CRTs. Surely itr's a good opportunity to advertise Blu Ray and flat screen tv's.

Because some productions can't afford the technology or it would make little to no sense for a character to own it.

[ShelbyGT500]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

Have you not seen Tropic Thunder?

Blu-ray in Tropic Thunder

To add to this is also Casino Royale used Blu-Ray for the surveillance disc's in the hotel.

[Rob J in WNY]

Wall·E made good use of videotape, an iPod and a magnifying glass 700 years into the future.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by Rblu-Dblu

My question is why do they advertise bluray on a bluray disc? The last 5 movies I've watched on bluray had the advertisement showing how much better bluray is than standard dvd. Being that I need a bluray player to watch the disc I'm watching, I dont think this advertisement is necessary.

Exactly, advertise it on DVD!

[LynxFX]

There was a nice Blu-ray shoutout in the season finale of Ugly Betty.

"Some crappy dvd movies in the gift basket? They aren't even Blu-ray."

[RiseDarthVader]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

Because some productions can't afford the technology or it would make little to no sense for a character to own it.

The studio never pays for products to be on the screen. The manufacturers do all the studio needs to do is pitch the idea to a manufacturer and they get a free product from them to advertise. Like the Aston Martin DBS in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace it costs them nothing at all. Aston Martin would be willing to give them 100 Aston Martins to throw off a cliff as long as they make the car look good in the first place.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Wall·E made good use of videotape, an iPod and a magnifying glass 700 years into the future.

You're correct in that it is a videotape. But it's not VHS. It's Beta!

But to answer the OP, unless your narrative demands it, there's no need to date your film with the latest electronics gear. Because by the time it's released on BD/DVD - which would have been at LEAST one year after production wraps - the gear would have been old.

That's why it's better to not highlight that aspect of the film, or use custom panel design. Just look at the monitors in Alien and Aliens.


fuad

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by RiseDarthVader

The studio never pays for products to be on the screen. The manufacturers do all the studio needs to do is pitch the idea to a manufacturer and they get a free product from them to advertise. Like the Aston Martin DBS in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace it costs them nothing at all. Aston Martin would be willing to give them 100 Aston Martins to throw off a cliff as long as they make the car look good in the first place.

Actually, they do pay for it. The set dressing and prop deparment work together to find the proper items to fill the room/set. Stuff that appears in the background or is not being showed off to the camera is paid for or provided by a prop department.

There are cases where there is product placement but the product's brand name or the product itself has to be shown on screen for a contracted amount of time. But in some cases of product placement, they do have to pay for the product. Transformers was a case of shared payment: while GM gave them the OK to use the redesigned Camaro for Bumblebee, GM would did not have a functioning version for them to use. So the production design team and car prop department bought a different model of GM car and modified that to look like the new Camaro.

In fact, some productions have to buy or rent the vehicles they need for production. That's why in Bullitt, the same vehicles appear during the penultimate chase sequence. The production team could only afford to buy so many vehicles for the backgrounds.

In the case of televisions and electronics, sometimes they have to ask the production staff to loan their own equipment for the background.

[Quad]

Originally Posted by Rblu-Dblu

My question is why do they advertise bluray on a bluray disc? The last 5 movies I've watched on bluray had the advertisement showing how much better bluray is than standard dvd. Being that I need a bluray player to watch the disc I'm watching, I dont think this advertisement is necessary.

Just guessing but maybe for people who are watching at a store or at a friend's house and want to show off some blu-ray eye candy that may not be in the film they are about to watch. If they show it on DVD it will look like a DVD so its hard to show off the benefits there.

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGT500

To add to this is also Casino Royale used Blu-Ray for the surveillance disc's in the hotel.

Yep, the scene was also probably shot before blu ray was officially released.